About Andreth and Aegnor
by jojo11
Summary: Aegnor, an Elf, meets Andreth, Boromir's daughter, at Dorthonion. They fall in love...


I really tried to find a beta-reader for the English translation, but I couldn't, so I'm very sorry for anything wrong in the text. If you have got a problem with them, you're very welcome to beta the text for me. Thank you for your understanding. jojo  
  
Disclaimer: it seems customary to write; it is all J. R. R. Tolkien's, nothing is mine, but I don't want to blame anyone for something I "committed"...  
  
Enjoy reading anyway!  
  
Thanks to heledir and Úmarth for helping me to translate the Sindarin things.  
  
I want to thank as well TiAm and Lambedil for their help with the story's backgrounds.  
  
Dedication: well... this is for Earonn because she kept encouraging me to write on. And thanks for beta-reading!!  
  
And not long are the years since your first met and your hands touched in this darkness...  
  
I narn e-mîl naer o Andreth a Aegnor  
  
The tall pine trees shadowed the broad path leading directly to the city of lord Boromir who ruled, the Edain of Bëor's HouseouHouse. It was not too far anymore and that was good, for Anar* was already disappearing in the direction of the Blessed Realm. Aegnor looked at his brother Angrod riding beside him.  
  
"Do you think we will be there in time?", he asked.  
  
Angrod nodded. "Look, the dark waters of tarn Aeluin* are already glimmering through the trees. It is hardly more than an hour to Bar-ned- thaur*."  
  
King Finrod Felagund had sent his brothers to the Edain of Dorthonion because he foresaw that the watchful peace would not last much longer and open war against Morgoth was approaching. The Edain of Bëor's house had always been their allies and now it was important to find out if they would fight together with the Eldar and to explain them the plans how the Eldar wanted to protect the North from the enemy.  
  
Although Aegnor and Angrod had no own realms, they were Noldor-princes of the House of Finwë. The region in the North of Dorthonion which they held against orcs and other rabble with their little suite was a fief of Finrod Felagund.  
  
They spurred their horses to trot on quickly and the ten Eldar who accompanied them as escort did the same.  
  
As Angrod had told his brother they soon reached the Aeluin lake in which clear water the evening sky was mirrored.  
  
The Eldar followed the path which passed the lake on its right hand and soon left the waters behind them. The wood surrounded them again and darkness fell swiftly.  
  
Although Aegnor would never have confessed it, he was very curious about the Edain whom he had hardly met before. He could not often dare to leave his land, and when he had that chance, he would rather ride to visit his relatives in southern Beleriand. Anyway there were not many well-trusted people who dared to travel in sight of Thangorodrim without a reason. Of course he knew that it was important to observe the enemy, but the view from their little forts was everything but great.  
  
Silently they rode through the breaking night until they became aware of small lights in front of them, so far that only the eyes of Eldar could see them.  
  
"They are coming," shouted the children who had been waiting for the guests at the entrance of the village Bar-ned-thaur. "We heard swift horses nearing in the dark."  
  
The people continued their preparations for the Elves' visit more nervously. In the big hall the maidens were laying the tables, only one of them was yet missing: Andreth, the daughter of lord Boromir was in her chamber and refused to put on the dress her mother was suggesting.  
  
"Do whatever you want then", said Anariel finally in a displeased voice and left the room.  
  
Andreth rummaged in the chest containing her few elegant dresses and in the end found a rather simple white gown with wide sleeves. She had hardly put it on when she heard the children's calls from outside. Quickly she combed her dark hair, slipped into the light shoes she seldom wore and run down to the village's public place. As usual she was rather late.  
  
The people were already stepping on each other's toes, trying to leave enough space for the Elves, but they let the daughter of their lord pass by.  
  
It was already darkening, so some of the Men bore torches. They had formed a circle in the middle of the waiting crowd.  
  
Not far from her Andreth could see her father and among the young Men of his guard she recognised her brother Bregor. He caught her glance and smiled at her.  
  
Andreth's mother seemed to have returned to the kitchen and also her sister Beril was nowhere to be seen. Even though the crowd was not too silent, quick trotting horses could be heard by now.  
  
It did not take a long time until the riders came along the path leading to the public place.  
  
Andreth would have never confessed it, but she was curios about the strange guests. During her lifetime only a few Elves had come to Bar-ned-thaur and only as messengers who were welcomed by her father and did not stay long.  
  
But today she should wait at her father's and the elven lords's table, so perhaps she would find out what was true of the many things she had heard about the noble folk.  
  
The crowd got silent, for the strange riders had reached them, made they horses stand and dismounted. Grooms came immediately to bring the animals to the stables.  
  
In the darkness only lit by torches Andreth could not see much it seemed to be about ten Elves. They were tall and beardless as all Elves, their voices were clear and although they spoke the same language as Beor's kin, it sounded strange for they pronounced the words more sonorous.  
  
Andreth listened eagerly but she could not understand what was spoken.  
  
Lord Boromir was very polite, Aegnor noticed. He greeted the Eldar with kind words and said that he'd be glad to welcome such noble guests in his modest village.  
  
Aegnor silently. The village could almost be called a fort, compared to other Edain's villages in this region. After all, Boromir's people had surrounded the village with a palisade and there was also a small tower for a watcher.  
  
Lord Boromir was robust and not very tall, but if not for his beard, he could have been confounded with a Noldo. For his hair was dark, his eyes grey, his face noble.  
  
He asked the guests to go into the hall where a feast should take place to their honour and "we can talk about politic still later," he said.  
  
The lord told his son to lead the Noldorin escort to their table while he himself took care of Angrod and Aegnor who should sit beside him.  
  
The big hall seemed to serve for several uses at the same time. This evening it contained some big tables where the guests, Boromir's counsellors and his guard should eat.  
  
Of course this house could not be compared to the palaces of the Noldor- kings, but the walls of the hall were covered with woven carpets and though they were not as beautiful as Vaire's works, they made the room rather cosy.  
  
Andreth watched her father leading the two gold-haired Elves into the hall and then hurried back into the house through another entrance. She had guessed right and found her mother inside the kitchen. Also her little sister Beril was there, trying hard to peel potatoes properly.  
  
"They are here", Andreth shouted.  
  
The women already prepared the last jugs and bowls while those who should wait at the Men's table stood at the door for they should keep their dresses clean because there was a big mess in the kitchen.  
  
"That dress is not worthy for the daughter of a lord from Beor's House," said Anariel, observing her daughter critically. "But it fits. You know what you have to do?"  
  
Andreth nodded. She knew she wasn't allowed to make any mistake if she did not want to ashame her father.  
  
Then there was no more time for thoughts. She knew her tasks at the feasts of the Men but there had never been any Noldor present.  
  
For a moment she thought she would stumble and fall right onto her nose in front of everyone. But she breathed deeply and the sense of felling nervous passed.  
  
Carrying jugs with wine from the South, he young women stepped into the hall. In the chimney a bright fire was lit.  
  
Andreth went over to her father's table which was placed a bit higher than the others. She put the jug onto the table and tried not to stare too obviously at the two gold haired elves seated beside her father, glancing around in the hall. After a moment she turned around and with measured steps went back to the kitchen to fetchthe food.  
  
The lord led Angrod and Aegnor to a table placed at the end of the hall on somekind of podest. Boromir sat down at one end of the table and asked the Noldor to take a seat and his right side.  
  
Some other Edain, seemingly rather important among their kin, sat down with them.  
  
Aegnor looked at his fellows. They were seated at a big table not too far form him and observed the hall curiously.  
  
"Tell me," an old man addressed at the brothers, "if you don't mind me asking a stupid question, why is the hair of both of you bright golden while you are Noldor?"  
  
"Your question is not stupid," Angrod said, as usually talking for both of them. "We are akin to all the tribesof Calaquendi. For our grandfather was Finwë High King of the Noldor, but our grandmother was Indis form the Vanyar. Their son was Finarfin, our father, and our mother was Eärwen a Telerin maiden."  
  
"I do not know much about Elves," the old man said. "But I know the names of your folks. Forgive my impoliteness."  
  
"It is never wrong to ask questions," Aegnor said. It was the first thing he spoke.  
  
Wine and food were brought and the men kept silent for a whilebecause they were eating.  
  
Andreth began to bring the empty plates back to the kitchen. The men did not care about her, they were used to be waited at when eating. But when she was about to take the plate of one of the Elves, he turned around and handed it to her with a matter of course that hardly could exist.  
  
Just for a moment Andreth saw his fire-lit face. As bathed in red flames she saw her own face mirrored in the cool grey of his eyes. And she felt as if she was banned in this very moment. Swiftly she turned around and made her way back to the kitchen.  
  
Little Beril was cleaning spoons. "What's up," she yawned when she saw Andreth's face, but her elder sister only shook her head.  
  
Just for a moment Aegnor had seen the face of the girl, lit by the fire, but it was long enough to recognise that she was beautiful, though one of the Edain as he knew well.  
  
For a moment their eyes had adhered on another, but then she had turned and ran away breaking the ban.  
  
He stood up and followed her.  
  
She met him while she carried a jug of wine to the hall. She had not heard his light shoes on the ground and so he suddenly stood in front of her in the half dark passage.  
  
He, the elf who had looked at her, nearly blinding her with the light in his eyes. A golden shimmer was on his hair even in the darkness, and his eyes were like merry grey lights in the night. His face was noble and beardless, his shape graceful and ageless as thus of all Elves.  
  
He was not more beautiful than othersbut to her he seemed the most beautiful being she had ever met.  
  
The thin light of far torches could hardly light her face when she suddenly stood in front of him. Her eyes gleamed amazed and she looked at him curiously and happily at the same time. In her right hand she carried a jug. It was a young hand, not yet rough and clumsy from hard work.  
  
She wore her hair open, it was falling over her shoulders like a dark veil and her white dress was gleaming in the darkness. Beautiful she was and yet strange, younger than Eldarin women but already grown to full beauty.  
  
"What's your name, noble lady?," he finally asked.  
  
"Andreth," she said shyly. She did not dare to look at him, so she cast down her eyes.  
  
He was so polite and the light of Valinor was in his eyes. Had he sneaked after her, just to be told her name? No, how could she ever think about that? All her lifetime she had been taught that the Elves were wise and valued Men as fellows in war. But surely they were not interested in mortal women. How could she dare to waste any thought in love then?  
  
"Boromir's daughter," she added, just to say something.  
  
"So your father is the lord of Bar-ned-thaur?"  
  
She nodded and blushed for no reason.  
  
"The names of the fathers are important among your kin," he said.  
  
She did not answer.  
  
"Do you know any reason? It is important who we are and not who our forefathers were, I think."  
  
"How should I know answers to your questions? I am just a maid among many and not taught in the customs of my people."  
  
"I often think about such things," Aegnor said. "But I have nobody to talk about that. I ought to be a warrior, not a scholar."  
  
She smiled as if they were confidants now. For a moment she lifted her head and fully faced him.  
  
"I am akin to many of the kings Arda has seen so far."  
  
Her look got somehow nervous, yet she glanced at him ano1ther time as if he might have changed since she now knew about his high descent.  
  
He felt that he had said something wrong. "The important thing is who we are, and not to whom we are akin. Mandos only judges our own deeds." He gave her an encouraging smile. Then it came to his mind how impolite he had been, he had asked for her name and yet not told her his one.  
  
"I am Aegnor from the House of Finwë," he said.  
  
She smiled. "I thank you for your kind words, Aegnor, fire that lit this evening to me."*  
  
"Andreth, what does your name mean?"  
  
"Nothing," she said. "It is just a name."  
  
"Every name has a meaning, didn't you know? But I don't get the meaning of yours."  
  
She bewildered him. He suddenly knew that he could tell her everything, and that she would understand it. He did not know where this certainty came from, startling and well-known at the same time.  
  
He seemed so familiar to her. Talked to her as if he had known her for years. He asked about the meaning of her name - she had never cared about such things.  
  
"There may be a difference with elvish names," she said shyly.  
  
The same moment he had told her his name she had known about its significance. But he did not seem to understand how true it was that he has lit this evening to her.  
  
She had never spoken to any elf before, how should she know what he was thinking?  
  
Aegnor laughed softly, it sounded like the ringing of silver bells, merry and gentle. "Indeed, our names tell something about their bearer and sometimes they can predict the future already during childhood."  
  
"So what does your name say about you?," she asked.  
  
"I do not know", Aegnor said. "I suppose my parents were wrong, for I am not at all like the fire. Silent I am and often in search of loneliness. Truly, I like peace better than war, no matter how glorious the latter may be."  
  
She met his eyes and he recognised understanding in hers.  
  
For one moment, just as long as he thought he could dare it, he took her left hand in his.  
  
"Your name seems the right one to me," she said softly. "The fire was mirrored in your eyes as my eyes were in yours." She fell silent.  
  
He let her hand go.  
  
"Your words are more beautiful than any other a woman could have spoken," he said.  
  
She smiled, but then swiftly passed by and hurried along to the hall. Had he said something wrong? For minutes he remained at the same place before making his way back.  
  
"I shall never forget thee," she said while running along the passage to the hall. She did not know if he had heard it. The house which was intimate to her since her early childhood suddenly seemed strange now, as if she was seeing it with another's eyes.  
  
"Stop dreaming," she told herself. "Yes, you will marry soon, but a man of your own people. This means naught."  
  
Her hand was burning like fire since he had touched it, and she knew she would never forget any word he had spoken to her. Did this mean naught?  
  
Her head felt light, as if she had drunken too much wine, and yet the jug in her hand was sill full.  
  
Was it love?  
  
She poured out wine. Twice she had run away. Why? Was it that wrong to blush?  
  
Just when Aegnor returned to the hall, Angrod and lord Boromir got up and walked towards him. How long had he been away? For hours? Minutes? He did not know. Her face was still in his mind.  
  
"Here you are, Aegnor," his brother said. "Come on then, lord Boromir wants to discuss the strategic plans."  
  
What might they think about where he had been? He did not care.  
  
He felt that Andreth was looking at him while he left the hall.  
  
The council room of the lord was rather small and plain, like all things made by Edain. But what could be impressing to eyes which had seen Tirion upon Túna and had faced the Valar?  
  
The brothers sat down on the rather uncomfortable though upholstered chairs. 'If there was not a war to begin soon, we could teach them a lot,' Aegnor thought.  
  
"I hope that if necessary we will fight together," Boromir broke the silence.  
  
"That's exactly why we came," Angrod said. "Finrod king of Nargothrond sends us to ask for your help. We know that Bëor's kin is very valiant."  
  
The grey eyes of the lord sparkled with pleasure. "If we can eradicate the enemy, we will do it or fail within trying. But do you think war is approaching so quickly?"  
  
"I fear it is so," Angrod said. As so often he spoke for both of them, and since Aegnor had met the lord's daughter, he was more silent than ever before. "You know that our lands are in sight of Thangorodrim. We are always aware of the danger, but it seems to have grown now. The earth is shaking. We suppose the enemy plans something. The number of Orcs has grown and they go everywhere unhindered."  
  
Boromir nodded. "Some time ago we ran into a strong group not far from here. We eradicated the Orcs but they were well weaponed so four of my men fell."  
  
"So you already knew about the danger before you heard we were coming?," Angrod asked unnecessarily. He liked talking.  
  
Boromir nodded once more. "An alliance between Men and Elves is the only chance we have."  
  
"There is no problem about that," Aegnor said.  
  
Angrod and Boromir both nodded. They could not know that in the depth of his incomprehensible heart Aegnor longed for a much different kind of union.  
  
It was late evening and the guests had already been accompanied to the chambers prepared for them.  
  
Andreth stood at the window. She was still wearing her white dress, now a bit soaked with sweat from running around.  
  
A thin crescent was in the sky.  
  
She thought about meeting Aegnor. She would have liked to know what he was thinking about her. After a while she turned around and went to bed. It took a long time until she fell asleep, because Aegnor's face was in her mind and she feared to lose it in a dream.  
  
Angrod was already asleep when Aegnor stood up and went to the window. Lots of stars were in the sky.  
  
"Are the Edain as I have seen them?," he asked himself. He saw Andreth in front of him as she had been standing there, dark in the gleaming white dress.  
  
Tomorrow they would get off again.  
  
The whole night long he saw the girl in his dreams and he knew he would never forget her.  
  
Although she had only slept for a few hours, Andreth woke up early. Silently she dressed and sneaked out of the house. The village was quiet at this time. She went over to the stables to take a look at the elven horses.  
  
The animals were beautiful, taller and nobler than the few ones her people owned.  
  
She didn't stay there for longbut went to the high palisade which surrounded the village. On its top there was a small passage where a watcher could patrol if necessary.  
  
Andreth climbed up the ladder - luckily she wore no shoes - and stood a bit higher than the roofs of Bar-ned-thaur. The wind made her hair flutter while she stood silent, watching the sun rise.  
  
Aegnor never slept long and that morning he woke earlier than his brother as well. Silent in order not to wake Angrod he left their chamber and stepped out into the new day. With sharp elven eyes he recognised the person on the palisade even from behind. He climbed up the ladder and then stepped beside her.  
  
She was looking east, her hair fluttering in the wind. She wore different dress than the day before, it was simple, light blue and made of a less expensive cloth. Her feet were bare.  
  
She had not noticed him.  
  
"Anar rises behind the Kalórme*," he said.  
  
She had thought she was alone, but suddenly she heard Aegnor's voice beside her and was stunned for a moment. Then she turned to him.  
  
He looked at her and a smile was upon his face. The first ray of the rinsing sun was playing in his golden hair.  
  
"You did not expect me here," he said.  
  
" I come by here often, in the morning, when everyone is still asleep," Andreth said. "How did you find me?"  
  
"To say the truth I was not looking for you, but if I had know you were here, I had passed by even earlier."  
  
"What was it, that drove you out of the house so early?"  
  
"I am trying to look at the other side." He sighed. "I hoped I'd be able to look at the land of the Edain like one of them. And understand them better."  
  
"What do you want to understand, lord?"  
  
He did not answer immediatelybut glanced around before their eyes met earnestly. "Do you fear death, Andreth?"  
  
She had awaited anything but that. But indeed it was quite obvious that this was bothering him. For more than in life the dooms of Men and Elves are different in death.  
  
He had asked the question without knowing if she would answer, but she nodded.  
  
He kept silent.  
  
"Why do you ask? Aren't you afraid?, " she asked.  
  
He rested his hands onto the balustrade looking at the land beneath his feet. Silence lay all over the village. Then he shook his head.  
  
She placed her hands beside his ones without touching them. "Is it true what they say? That the Elves never really leave Arda?"  
  
He nodded. "We are bound to this world until the end of all."  
  
"Then you know what will happen to you anyway. But we, the mortals, we leave the halls of Mandos' to go an different way, out of this world." She rested her head onto her hands and looked into the far distance. "That's what I fear."  
  
He looked at Andreth beside him, Andreth, who understood so much and so less as well.  
  
"It is Eru Illuvatar's gift for the Edain," he said softly.  
  
"Those receiving it do not know why it is called a gift," she said.  
  
"You don't know what is waiting for you, didn't you say? Maybe it is a better place than Arda. With hope you may pass, but we know what awaits us if we leave Mandos' halls. Wars on Arda and the Valar cursing us again."  
  
"It is no nice fate to be forgotten," Andreth said sadly. "Who will remember Boromir's daughter once I passed away?"  
  
He did not answer.  
  
"I know my live won't last as long as yours, lord. And even if you were slain, many songs would be sung about you."  
  
"Maybe not. I have done no great deeds."  
  
"We are too different," she said as if answering to something else. He knew what she wanted to say.  
  
"We are resembling each other as well," he said.  
  
"I don't know what you want to say with that, but our fates won't be bound anyway." It was easy to say it, but hard to find the words and now, as she had spoken the last truth, she could hardly keep the tears away from her eyes. She did not want him to leave her ever.  
  
He pushed a strain of dark hair out of her face. How gentle his hand was!  
  
"Through our meeting they are already," he said and she was sure that he felt the same way.  
  
For a while they stood there silently.  
  
"I have to go," he said finally, "we will ride soon."  
  
He only said what they both knew. But she had to twinkle many times to make the tears go away.  
  
"If thou go now, we will never meet again," she said.  
  
"My heart tells me the same, but I cannot change it," he said softly.  
  
"It could have been different," she said.  
  
He shook his head. " I will never forget thee."  
  
She did not answer. She listened to him climbing down the ladder, but did not turn around. He should not see her tears.  
  
She stood where he had left her, just as if she were made of stone. He knew that she felt the way he did.  
  
He went back to the hostel of the Eldar.  
  
Angrod stood near the window, looking up to the palisade where Andreth's little blue shape could still be seen.  
  
Aegnor did not care.  
  
His brother had heard him enter and turned around.  
  
Silently they looked at each other.  
  
"Do you love her?," Angrod finally asked.  
  
Aegnor nodded despairingly.  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"She feels as I do, but we both know it is useless."  
  
"It seems useless indeed. Such a love has never been before."*  
  
"I know," Aegnor said. "That's it."  
  
"So you will return with us?," Angrod asked.  
  
"Of course. Where else might I go?"  
  
They remained silent.  
  
"It is hopeless,"Aegnor sighed.  
  
"I won't talk about it," his brother answered.  
  
There was nothing else to say.  
  
For a while Andreth kept staring into the bright sunlight. Then she climbed down the ladder and run back to her chamber as fast as possible. She threw herself onto her bed and wept. The village woke to everyday's life but she did not notice. After a while she could weep no more.  
  
Long time later, it seemed to her in her despair, she heard loud voices from outside and some of them were unmistakably elvish. 'He is actually going, he'll leave me,' was the only thing she could think. New tears rose to her eyes but she wiped them away.  
  
Swifter than ever she stood upon the village's public place again. The Elves had already mounted their horses when she rushed out of the house.  
  
There he was, Aegnor, beside his brother who was talking to her father.  
  
She just wanted him to embrace her and tell her that he would stay with her for ever. He looked at her and his glance nearly broke her heart.  
  
So she had come in the end! He had not hoped to see her ever again and yet there she was, not far away, but worlds lay between them. He saw she had wept. But he could not comfort her, there was no comfort for any of them.  
  
Aegnor did not know if it was because of their conversation that Angrod had insisted in getting off so soon. He knew his brother meant well and this was evidently the best way. Perhaps he could forget her. But then he looked at her and knew that she would stay the one and only for ever.  
  
Even though they had know each other only for such a little time, it seemed an eternity since they had met, as if he had waited for meeting her all his lifetime without knowing.  
  
Angrod was talking to the lord. He said goodbye in the name of all of them and spurred his horse. The others followed. Aegnor was the last to ride. Once more he looked at Andreth, then his horse bore him away from her, westwards, to his home which was no home anymore.  
  
Anyone but his brother knew why Aegnor kept acting so strangely.  
  
He rode away, she knew he had no choice. But she could not believe it.  
  
His horse did wait no more, before it followed the others and tore the band of glances between them.  
  
For long she stood there, watching the riders disappear in the west until they could be seen no more.  
  
And suddenly it came to her mind that it had only been a dream. A dream which was too kind to come true.  
  
______________________  
  
Aegnor's fear of surviving his darling and being alone with the pain, to grief her throughout his ever-staying youth, all those reasons he did not dare to tell her, turned out to be unfounded.  
  
Not long after their meeting at Bar-ned-thaur, Morgoth started the battle which the Eldar had foreseen; the Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame.  
  
Dorthonion bore the main attack, Angrod was slain, and with him fell his brother Aegnor.  
  
And he never left Mandos' halls for he knew he would never meet Andreth in Arda again.  
  
Andreth stayed unwed during all her life. During the Dagor Bragollach she fled to Dor-lómin with many people of her folk.  
  
Aegnor's brother Finrod Felagund met her several times and talked with her about the fates of Men and Elves . She was then called Saelind which means "wise heart".  
  
When she died she hadn't met Aegnor once again and had no hope to meet him again.  
  
______________________  
  
*Anar: Quenya, the sun.  
  
*Tarn Aeluin: the Aeluin lake where Barahir's men camped.  
  
*Bar-ned-thaur: Sindarin, means "dwelling in the wood".  
  
*Aegnor: Sindarin, means "wild fire" or "sharp flame".  
  
*Kalórme: the mountain of sunrise.  
  
*Such a love has never been before: the meeting of Aegnor and Andreth took place before the Dagor Bragollach. By that time there had not been marriages between the two races. 


End file.
